It’s a great pity we can’t have a Coronation Renewal Ceremony every ten years, just to remind ourselves who we are as a people. The sovereign represents and embodies the nation. All that Her Majesty the Queen swore before God to do in 1953, she swore on behalf of all those ministers of the Crown who govern in her name, and all those judges who dispense justice in her name. It would be an excellent idea if each new minister or judge, on being sworn in, was given a copy of the Coronation Service so they could see what the Queen had committed them to.
For instance when she was handed the Sword of State, the Archbishop of Canterbury intoned this prayer over her: “With this sword do justice, stop the growth of iniquity, protect the holy Church of God, help and defend widows and orphans, restore the things that are gone to decay, maintain the things that are restored, punish and reform what is amiss, and confirm what is in good order… Amen”. That is a charter for good government.
Read the whole thing.
Clifford Longley offers some Reflections in the Midst of a Hung Parliament
It’s a great pity we can’t have a Coronation Renewal Ceremony every ten years, just to remind ourselves who we are as a people. The sovereign represents and embodies the nation. All that Her Majesty the Queen swore before God to do in 1953, she swore on behalf of all those ministers of the Crown who govern in her name, and all those judges who dispense justice in her name. It would be an excellent idea if each new minister or judge, on being sworn in, was given a copy of the Coronation Service so they could see what the Queen had committed them to.
For instance when she was handed the Sword of State, the Archbishop of Canterbury intoned this prayer over her: “With this sword do justice, stop the growth of iniquity, protect the holy Church of God, help and defend widows and orphans, restore the things that are gone to decay, maintain the things that are restored, punish and reform what is amiss, and confirm what is in good order… Amen”. That is a charter for good government.
Read the whole thing.